Airboy is a fictional

Golden Age The term Golden Age comes from Greek mythology, particularly the ''Works and Days'' of Hesiod, and is part of the description of temporal decline of the state of peoples through five Ages of Man, Ages, Gold being the first and the one during wh ...

aviator An aircraft pilot or aviator is a person who controls the flight of an aircraft by operating its directional flight controls. Some other aircrew members, such as navigators or flight engineers, are also considered aviators because they a ...

hero A hero (feminine: heroine) is a real person or fictional character who, in the face of danger, combats adversity through feats of ingenuity, courage, or Physical strength, strength. The original hero type of classical epics did such thin ...

of an American comic book series initially published by

Hillman Periodicals Hillman Periodicals, Inc., was an American magazine and comic book publishing company founded in 1938 by Alex L. Hillman, a former New York City book publisher. It is best known for its true confession and true crime magazines; for the long-runn ...

during the World War II, before ending his initial run in 1953. The hero was the costumed identity of crack pilot Davy Nelson II, and created by writers

Charles Biro Charles Biro (; May 12, 1911 – March 4, 1972) was an American comic book creator and cartoonist. He created the comic book characters Airboy and Steel Sterling, and worked on ''Daredevil (Golden Age), Daredevil Comics'' and ''Crime Does Not Pa ...

and Dick Wood with artist Al Camy. The character disappeared from publications until a 1980s revival under

Chuck Dixon Charles Dixon (born April 14, 1954) is an American comic book writer, best known for his work on the Marvel Comics character the Punisher and on the DC Comics characters Batman, Nightwing, and Robin in the 1990s and early 2000s. Early life D ...

that lasted for several years, focusing on the original Airboy's son, Davy Nelson III, and reviving much of the Hillman library of supporting characters before ending in 1989. Since then the original Hillman creations and stories have fallen into the

public domain The public domain (PD) consists of all the creative work to which no Exclusive exclusive intellectual property rights apply. Those rights may have expired, been forfeited, expressly Waiver, waived, or may be inapplicable. Because no one holds ...

; as a result Airboy and his supporting cast have appeared intermittently since under multiple publishers, sometimes updating his story to the present day or continuing previous adventures.

Publication history

Hillman Publications

Airboy debuted in ''Air Fighters Comics'' #2 (

cover-date The cover date of a periodical publication is the date displayed on the cover, which is not necessarily the true date of publication (the on-sale date or release date); later cover dates are common in magazine and comic book publishing. More unusu ...

Nov. 1942), an anthology series featuring a variety of aviator heroes; the first issue of the title had been published a year before, featuring a completely different cast of characters who were never seen again. The series was renamed ''Airboy Comics'' with the twenty-third issue, vol. 2, #11 (Dec. 1945), and ran 89 issues, through vol. 10, #4 (May 1953). In the early issues, Biro wrote the scripts with Dave Wood and drew the covers, Al Camy was the initial story artist. He was followed by

Tony DiPreta Anthony Louis DiPreta (July 9, 1921 – June 2, 2010) was an American comic book and comic strip artist active from the 1940s Golden Age of comic books. He was the longtime successor artist of the comic strip '' Joe Palooka'' (1959–84) and ...

and, beginning with ''Air Fighters'' #10 (July 1943), Fred Kida, who would become closely associated with the series. Ernie Schroeder became the regular artist with ''Airboy Comics'' vol. 5, #11 (Dec. 1948), through the end of the series' run, with Dan Barry, Maurice Del Bourgo,

Carmine Infantino Carmine Infantino (; May 24, 1925 – April 4, 2013) was an American comics artist and editing, editor, primarily for DC Comics, during the late 1950s and early 1960s period known as the Silver Age of Comic Books. Among his character creations are ...

, and others supplying an occasional story.''Air Fighters Comics''
at the

Grand Comics Database The Grand Comics Database (GCD) is an Internet-based project to build a database of comic book information through user contributions. The GCD project catalogues information on creator credits, story details, reprints, and other information use ...

''Airboy Comics''
at the Grand Comics Database One of Airboy's most frequently recurring supporting characters was the German aviator Valkyrie, who fought on the side of the Axis as one of the Airmaidens but then defected to the Allies. The

cleavage Cleavage may refer to: Science * Cleavage (crystal), the way in which a crystal or mineral tends to split * Cleavage (embryo), the division of cells in an early embryo * Cleavage (geology), foliation of rock perpendicular to stress, a result of ...

-baring

aviatrix An aircraft pilot or aviator is a person who controls the flight of an aircraft by operating its directional flight controls. Some other aircrew members, such as navigators or flight engineers, are also considered aviators because they ar ...

was one of the most popular characters in the series, making numerous appearances.

, writer of the 1980s revival, would describe Valkyrie as "a cross between a

Milton Caniff Milton Arthur Paul Caniff (; February 28, 1907 – April 3, 1988) was an American cartoonist known for the ''Terry and the Pirates'' and ''Steve Canyon'' comic strips. Biography Caniff was born in Hillsboro, Ohio. He was an Eagle Scout and a re ...

siren and

Veronica Lake Constance Frances Marie Ockelman (November 14, 1922 – July 7, 1973), known professionally as Veronica Lake, was an American film, stage, and television actress. Lake was best known for her femme fatale roles in films noir with Alan Ladd durin ...

", and declare her the "sexiest character of Golden Age comics bar none". An unusual feature of the series was that Airboy broadly aged in real-time, starting out as a young teenager at the start of his adventures; Kida credited the idea for this development to ''

Terry and the Pirates ''Terry and the Pirates'' is an action-adventure comic strip created by cartoonist Milton Caniff, which originally ran from October 22, 1934, to February 25, 1973. Captain Joseph Patterson, editor for the Chicago Tribune New York News Syndica ...

''. Following the Allies' victory in World War II in 1945, the series re-orientated and featured Airboy battling against the new terror,

Communists Communism () is a sociopolitical, philosophical, and economic ideology within the socialist movement, whose goal is the creation of a communist society, a socioeconomic order centered on common ownership of the means of production, d ...

. The two consecutive series also contained backup stories about other aviators, including Skywolf, Iron Ace, the Black Angel, the Bald Eagle, the Flying Dutchman and the Flying Fool, before Hillman stopped publishing comics in 1953 due to the fall-out from

Fredric Wertham Fredric Wertham (; born Friedrich Ignatz Wertheimer, March 20, 1895 – November 18, 1981) was a German–American psychiatrist and author. Wertham had an early reputation as a progressive psychiatrist who treated poor black patients at his Lafa ...

's infamous ''

Seduction of the Innocent ''Seduction of the Innocent'' is a book by German-born American psychiatrist Fredric Wertham, published in 1954, that warned that comic books were a harmful form of popular literature and a serious cause of juvenile delinquency. The book was tak ...

'', the incoming oversight of the

Comics Code Authority The Comics Code Authority (CCA) was formed in 1954 by the Comics Magazine Association of America as an alternative to government regulation. The CCA enabled comic publishers to self-regulate the content of American comic book, comic books in the ...

and a general downturn in the market. Hillman subsequently left the publishing business altogether in 1961. Two issues were reprinted in 1973 by Don Maris' Nostalgia Inc. ''Comic Reprints'', and a trade paperback entitled ''Valkyrie!: From the Pages of Air Fighters and the Airboy'' was published in 1982 by Ken Pierce Books with five stories featuring the femme fatale.

Synopsis

Airboy was David ("Davy") Nelson II, the son of an expert pilot and, despite his youth, a crack flyer himself; he was also an expert mechanic and a skilled hand-to-hand combatant. His friend, inventor and

Franciscan The Franciscans are a group of related organizations in the Catholic Church, founded or inspired by the Italian saint Francis of Assisi. They include three independent Religious institute, religious orders for men (the Order of Friars Minor bei ...

friar Brother Francis Martier, had created a highly maneuverable prototype aircraft that flew by flapping its wings, like a bird; it also had claws for grabbing opponents, twin machine guns and could be summoned by radio. However, Martier was killed while testing it, and Davy inherited both the plane and a uniform, which had apparently been in the friar's family since the French Revolution. Davy soon christened himself "Airboy", and in his seemingly sentient new plane, "Birdie", helped the

Allies An alliance is a relationship among people, groups, or states that have joined together for mutual benefit or to achieve some common purpose, whether or not an explicit agreement has been worked out among them. Members of an alliance are calle ...

during World War II. Airboy confronted such weird

antagonist An antagonist is a character in a story who is presented as the main enemy or rival of the protagonist and is often depicted as a villain.bad girl nemesis, Valkyrie, a

whip A whip is a blunt weapon or implement used in a striking motion to create sound or pain. Whips can be used for flagellation against humans or animals to exert control through pain compliance or fear of pain, or be used as an audible cue thro ...

-wielding German aviator clad in

jodhpurs Jodhpurs, in their modern form, are tight-fitting trousers to the ankle, where they end in a snug cuff, and are worn primarily for horse riding. The term is also used as slang for a type of short riding boot, also called a ''paddock boot'' or ...

and riding boots. She led the crack all-female flying squad the Airmaidens before defecting and becoming an ally after witnessing the cruelty of superior Herr Oberst towards her charges. Other opponents included the hideously deformed Nazi fanatic the Black Ace and immortal CroMagnon occultist Zzed. Allies included the prototypical comic book swamp monster, the Heap, a

World War I World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

German aviator transformed into a shambling creature after crashing in a bog. The other Air Fighters were a host of colourful heroic Allied pilots – the wolf-cowled Skywolf and his unit, consisting of a

Cockney Cockney is a dialect of the English language, mainly spoken in London and its environs, particularly by Londoners with working-class and lower middle class roots. The term ''Cockney'' is also used as a demonym for a person from the East End, ...

known as Cocky Roche, overage

Royal Air Force The Royal Air Force (RAF) is the Air force, air and space force of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories and Crown Dependencies. It was formed towards the end of the World War I, First World War on 1 April 1918, on the merger of t ...

veteran the Judge and

Morse code Morse code is a telecommunications method which Character encoding, encodes Written language, text characters as standardized sequences of two different signal durations, called ''dots'' and ''dashes'', or ''dits'' and ''dahs''. Morse code i ...

-communicating mute Free Pole The Turtle, who all flew combining 'semi-planes' and fought the

cyborg A cyborg (, a portmanteau of ''cybernetics, cybernetic'' and ''organism'') is a being with both Organic matter, organic and biomechatronic body parts. The term was coined in 1960 by Manfred Clynes and Nathan S. Kline.Imperial Japanese Army The Imperial Japanese Army (IJA; , ''Dai-Nippon Teikoku Rikugun'', "Army of the Greater Japanese Empire") was the principal ground force of the Empire of Japan from 1871 to 1945. It played a central role in Japan’s rapid modernization during th ...

officer that operated out of a jar equipped with

tentacle In zoology, a tentacle is a flexible, mobile, and elongated organ present in some species of animals, most of them invertebrates. In animal anatomy, tentacles usually occur in one or more pairs. Anatomically, the tentacles of animals work main ...

s; the blaze-depilated Bald Eagle and his fatalistically-named 'Flying Coffin' plane; the improbably armour-suited Iron Eagle and his similarly ironclad but still flightworthy plane, who battled Nazi

arson Arson is the act of willfully and deliberately setting fire to or charring property. Although the act of arson typically involves buildings, the term can also refer to the intentional burning of other things, such as motor vehicles, watercr ...

enthusiast Firebug; and English

aristocrat The aristocracy (''from Greek'' ''ἀριστοκρατία'' ''aristokratía'', "rule of the best"; ''Latin: aristocratia'') is historically associated with a "hereditary" or a "ruling" social class. In many states, the aristocracy included the ...

Black Angel, who operated out of a secret hangar in her castle with partner Black Prince, with whom she fought the sadistic Baroness Blood and the son of

Grigori Rasputin Grigori Yefimovich Rasputin ( – ) was a Russian Mysticism, mystic and faith healer. He is best known for having befriended the imperial family of Nicholas II of Russia, Nicholas II, the last Emperor of all the Russias, Emperor of Russia, th ...

Eclipse Comics

While editing Pierce the collection,

Cat Yronwode Catherine Anna Yronwode (née Manfredi; May 12, 1947) is an American writer, editor, graphic designer, typesetter, and publisher with an extensive career in the comic book industry. She is also a practitioner of folk magic. Early life Catherine ...

– then editor-in-chief of

Eclipse Comics Eclipse Comics was an American comic book publisher, one of several independent publishers during the 1980s and early 1990s. In 1978, it published the first graphic novel intended for the newly created comic book store, comic book specialty stor ...

– discovered that the copyright to the ''Air Fighters'' characters expired in 1986. She and Eclipse publisher

Dean Mullaney Dean Mullaney (born June 18, 1954) is an American editor, publisher, and designer whose Eclipse Enterprises, founded in 1977, was one of the earliest independent comic-book companies. Eclipse published some of the first graphic novels and was o ...

planned to revive the characters, and sat on the information for four years in the hope that other publishers would not discover the lapse. As a result the Air Fighters cast became one of the few properties the company apparently owned, with the remainder being

creator-owned In the United States, creator ownership in comics is an arrangement in which the comic book creator retains full ownership of the material, regardless of whether the work is self-publishing, self-published or published by a corporate publisher. I ...

. However, unlike properties owned by the American major publishers of the period the creative staff of ''Airboy'' would retain ownership of their work, and any additional characters created for the series.

Timothy Truman Timothy Truman (born February 9, 1956) is an American writer, artist and musician. He is best known for his stories and Wild West-style comic book art, and in particular, for his work on '' Grimjack'' (with John Ostrander), ''Scout'', and the ...

was approached to write and draw the new series on the basis of his success with ''

Scout Scout may refer to: Youth movement *Scout (Scouting), a child, usually 10–18 years of age, participating in the worldwide Scouting movement ** Scouts (The Scout Association), section for 10-14 year olds in the United Kingdom ** Scouts BSA, sect ...

'' for Eclipse; a fan of the originals, he readily agreed. However, when Truman's friend

heard Airboy was being revived he was determined to be involved, and would end up writing the series. Mullaney, Yronwode, Truman and Dixon worked together on the initial idea, and opted to update the action to the present day and have Davy Nelson III, son of the original Airboy, take over his father's legacy. Supporting characters Valkyrie, Misery and Skywolf were all included, while Truman updated Hirota – a Japanese pilot who was the first 'kill' for Nelson Sr. during '' Air Fighters'' to now serve as his batman and tutor to his son. While the costumes of Airboy, Misery, the Heap and Valkyrie remained largely unchanged, Skywolf was updated to have a more modern costume – Yronwode would describe the wolf-pelt original look as "the dumbest costume ever invented" – and now piloted an AH-64 Apache attack helicopter. Realising Valkyrie's plunging neckline and sultry looks were an important draw, Dixon devised a storyline where she was kept in suspended animation by the villain Misery, allowing her to remain youthful while also providing a plausible reason for David Nelson II's fall from grace. He briefly considered omitting Airboy's possibly sentient aircraft Birdie as it was too far fetched but ultimately Truman persuaded him it was part of the character's charm, likening it to the

Batmobile The Batmobile is the fictional land vehicle driven by the superhero Batman, used both to patrol Gotham City looking for crime and to engage in car chases or vehicular combat with the city's criminal underworld. The Batmobile is one of a suite o ...

. The update to the modern day allowed Dixon to have the Air Fighters' escapades reference the Cold War foreign policy of both the USA and the USSR, albeit through thinly-veiled fictional countries. ''Airboy'' was initially published in an innovative format of a 50c bi-weekly consisting of 16 pages, allowing Eclipse to undercut Marvel and DC (a typical 32-page colour comic from "the Big Two" cost 75c). It would alternate with another bi-weekly 16-page title, '' The New Wave'', as part of Eclipse's plan to build a connected fictional universe; the Heap was planned to be the common denominator for the two titles. ''Airboy'' launched to strong sales. As planned, after two issues Truman stepped down as artist to be replaced by

Stan Woch Stan Woch (born July 8, 1959) is an American comics artist who has worked on comic strips and comic books. Career After attending the Pratt Institute and The Kubert School, Stan Woch's early career included work as an assistant to Gray Morrow on ...

; Truman would however remain as the series' editor. Among the cover artists were Truman, Paul Gulacy,

Dave Stevens Dave Lee Stevens (July 29, 1955 – March 11, 2008) was an American illustrator and comics artist. He was most famous for creating '' The Rocketeer'' comic book and film character, and for his pin-up style "glamour art" illustrations, especiall ...

(who got to draw the cover for the third issue, which announced Valkyrie's return to consciousness) However the 50c price was deemed unsustainable, and from #9 the title was priced at $1.25, though unlike ''The New Wave'' (which was soon to be cancelled) it remained bi-weekly. The new expanded format saw Skywolf receive his own back-up feature from #9, written by Dixon. Initially this featured art from

Larry Elmore Larry Elmore (born August 5, 1948) is an American fantasy artist whose work includes creating illustrations for video games, comics, magazines, and fantasy books. His list of work includes illustrations for ''Dungeons & Dragons'', ''Dragonlance'', ...

before he handed over to

Tom Lyle Thomas Stanford Lyle (November 2, 1953 – November 19, 2019) was an American comics artist, best known for his work on '' Starman'' and '' Robin'' for DC Comics, and ''Spider-Man'' for Marvel Comics. Career Tom Lyle's comics career began in ...

(pencils) and

Romeo Tanghal Romeo Tanghal (born July 24, 1947) is a Filipino comics artist who has worked primarily as an inker. He became well known in the industry in the 1980s for his work on DC Comics' '' The New Teen Titans''. Career Romeo Tanghal was born and raised ...

(inks) from #12 onwards. However, Woch felt the schedule was causing a drop in the quality of his work and left;

Bo Hampton Bo Hampton (born 1954 in North Carolina) is an American comic book and cartoon artist. He is the older brother of fellow comics-creator Scott Hampton. Andelman, Bob"Scott Hampton & Bo Hampton Interview,"''A Spirited Life'' (July 17, 2006). He gra ...

drew two issues before

Ron Randall Ron Randall (born November 22, 1956) is an American comic book artist best known as the creator of the character Trekker. Career A graduate of The Kubert School, Ron Randall's first published comic book work was a two-page backup story titled ...

took over as regular artist. ''Airboy'' #25 spotlighted concerns about California's environment, leading to mainstream news coverage of the issue on

CNN Cable News Network (CNN) is a multinational news organization operating, most notably, a website and a TV channel headquartered in Atlanta. Founded in 1980 by American media proprietor Ted Turner and Reese Schonfeld as a 24-hour cable ne ...

, while #28 set up crossover one-shot ''Airboy-Mr. Monster Special'', pairing the characters with

Michael T. Gilbert Michael Terry Gilbert (born May 7, 1951) is an American comic book artist and writer who has worked for both mainstream and underground comic book companies. Education Gilbert attended the State University of New York at New Paltz, graduating i ...

's '' Mr. Monster''. Valkyrie remained a popular attraction for both readers and creators, and in May 1987 the character received a three-issue spin-off

limited series In the field of comic books, and particularly in the United States, a limited series is a comics series with a predetermined number of issues. A limited series differs from an ongoing series in that the number of issues is finite and determined ...

, with art by Gulacy. Capitalising on her sex appeal, each issue featured pinups from popular artists including

Brian Bolland Brian Bolland (; born 26 March 1951)Salisbury, Mark, ''Artists on Comic Art'' (Titan Books, 2000) , p. 11 is a British comics artist. Best known in the United Kingdom as one of the Judge Dredd artists for British comics anthology ''2000 AD (comi ...

Steve Leialoha Steve Leialoha (born January 27, 1952) is an American comics artist whose work first came to prominence in the 1970s. He has worked primarily as an inker, though occasionally as a penciller, for several publishers, including Marvel Comics and lat ...

, Brent Anderson and Bruce Jones, as well as a new piece by original Hillman artist Fred Kida.; the series was soon collected in a trade paperback, ''Valkyrie – Prisoner of the Past'', with a new painted cover from Gulacy, and was followed by the one-shot sequel the ''Air Maidens Special'', featuring art from Elmore. Dixon however was finding his attempts to set up 4Winds and launch new titles '' Strike!'' and ''Winterworld'' were consuming his time, and from #33 ''Airboy'' switched to a monthly schedule. This change did however mean that Woch agreed to return as artist, while

Dan Spiegle Dan Spiegle (December 10, 1920 – January 28, 2017) was an American comics artist and cartoonist best known for comics based on movie and television characters across a variety of companies, including Dell Comics, DC Comics, and Marvel Comics ...

took over art duties for the ''Skywolf'' back-up feature from ''Airboy'' #34. To make up for the reduced schedule, Eclipse started the reprint series ''Air Fighters Classics'', reprinting Hillman material. Despite the 1940s material depicting the Japanese in an offensive manner for

propaganda Propaganda is communication that is primarily used to influence or persuade an audience to further an agenda, which may not be objective and may be selectively presenting facts to encourage a particular synthesis or perception, or using loaded l ...

reasons, the publisher chose not to censor the series. However, the original negatives for the material were lost, and as a result Eclipse had to strike new masters from vintage issues. The characters also appeared in a crossover with Dixon's ''Strike!'', the

D-Day The Normandy landings were the landing operations and associated airborne operations on 6 June 1944 of the Allied invasion of Normandy in Operation Overlord during the Second World War. Codenamed Operation Neptune and often referred to as ...

-set ''The Airfighters Meet Sgt. Strike Special''. A further spin-off, a limited series focusing on the Heap and written by ''

Swamp Thing Swamp Thing is a superhero and antihero appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics. Created by writer Len Wein and artist Bernie Wrightson, the Swamp Thing has had several different incarnations throughout his publication. The ch ...

'' co-creator

Len Wein Leonard Norman Wein (; June 12, 1948 – September 10, 2017) was an American comic book writer and editor best known for co-creating DC Comics' Swamp Thing and Marvel Comics' Wolverine (character), Wolverine, and for helping revive the Marvel sup ...

, was mooted but instead appeared as a back-up in ''Airboy'' #38–40, featuring art from

. Skywolf would graduate to his own

Vietnam War The Vietnam War (1 November 1955 – 30 April 1975) was an armed conflict in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia fought between North Vietnam (Democratic Republic of Vietnam) and South Vietnam (Republic of Vietnam) and their allies. North Vietnam w ...

-set three issue mini-series in 1988, written by the prolific Dixon and drawn by Lyle, while Valkyrie would also receive a second mini after the previous year's success, with Anderson joining as artist. Further spin-offs were the one-shots ''Target: Airboy''., ''Airmaidens vs. Airboy''. (which Yronwode would describe as "the closest Eclipse comes to an annual Swimsuit special") and a crossover with Truman's Prowler characters in ''Airboy Meets The Prowler''. By this stage Airboy was firmly established as one of Eclipse's most popular characters, and the Air Fighters would occupy major roles in Eclipse's tenth-anniversary mini-series ''

Total Eclipse An eclipse is an astronomical event which occurs when an astronomical object or spacecraft is temporarily obscured, by passing into the shadow of another body or by having another body pass between it and the viewer. This alignment of three ...

'', which also saw Hillman villain Zzed revived as the antagonist. However, the output for the character would soon rapidly dwindle. While ''Air Fighters Classics'' continued to sell well but would stall for several months while Eclipse searched for a copy of ''Air Fighters Comics'' (Vol. 1) #6. A planned ''Airboy Graphic Album'' intended to bridge the gap between the Hillman and Eclipse material was instead reworked as the contents of ''Airboy'' #46–49, a storyline named "The Diary of Airboy" and featuring

Ernie Colón Ernesto Colón SierraColón in English translation of Via (July 13, 1931 – August 8, 2019) was a stateside Puerto Rican comics artist, known for his wide-ranging career illustrating children's, superhero, and horror comics, as well as main ...

as artist afer Woch again left The title began to suffer delays; the double-sized ''Airboy'' #50 featured

Andy Kubert Andrew Kubert (; born February 27, 1962) is an American comics artist, letterer, and writer. He is the son of Joe Kubert and brother of Adam Kubert, both of whom are also artists, and the uncle of comics editor Katie Kubert. Kubert is a graduat ...

on pencils,

Adam Kubert Adam Kubert (; born 1959) is an American comics artist known for his work for publishers such as Marvel Comics and DC Comics, including work on ''Action Comics'', '' Astonishing Spider-Man & Wolverine'', '' The Incredible Hulk'', ''Ultimate Fanta ...

on inks and a

Joe Kubert Joseph Kubert (; September 18, 1926 – August 12, 2012) was a Poland, Polish-born Americans, American comic book artist, art teacher, and founder of The Kubert School. He is best known for his work on the DC Comics characters Sgt. Rock and Hawk ...

cover, and appeared four months after #49. Inside it included a text piece from Yronwode taking up the letters page informing readers it would be the last issue "for the foreseeable future", listing difficulties in finding a suitable artist to replace Woch full-time as Colón had proved too slow, falling sales and alleged controversy over the book's political controversy. With ''Airboy'' "on hiatus" related titles were also halted, with ''Air Fighters Classics'' and a mooted ''Skywolf'' one-shot with art from Alberto Maldonato. While Eclipse would issue the trade paperback ''The Return of Valkyrie'', reprinting ''Airboy'' #1–5 with a cover from

Jim Steranko James F. Steranko (; born November 5, 1938) is an American graphic artist, comics artist, comic book writer/artist, comics historian, Illusionist, magician, publisher and film production illustrator. His most famous comic book work was with th ...

, Dixon moved onto other projects including ''Merchants of Death'' and the company's adaptation of

J. R. R. Tolkien John Ronald Reuel Tolkien (, 3 January 1892 – 2 September 1973) was an English writer and philologist. He was the author of the high fantasy works ''The Hobbit'' and ''The Lord of the Rings''. From 1925 to 1945, Tolkien was the Rawlinson ...

's ''

The Hobbit ''The Hobbit, or There and Back Again'' is a children's fantasy novel by the English author J. R. R. Tolkien. It was published in 1937 to wide critical acclaim, being nominated for the Carnegie Medal and awarded a prize from the ...

'' as the publisher moved away from ongoing comics. No new material featuring Airboy or his supporting characters appeared before Eclipse went out of business in 1995.

Plot

After the conclusion of World War II, David Nelson II continued to work as a freelance pilot and mercenary for a time, but he eventually retired from combat flying and stored Birdie in a barn outside his California estate. He had a son, whom he named David Nelson III, and founded an aircraft manufacturing company, through which he became very wealthy. In the mid-1980s, David Nelson II was assassinated by mercenaries from the South American nation of Bogantilla. When David Nelson III discovered that his father had been assassinated, he began to investigate the circumstances which had led up to his father's death. He soon discovered his father's mothballed plane and uniform and teamed up with a number of the surviving Air Fighters to face many of the same enemies as David Nelson II, as well as South American dictators, Soviets, pirates and corporate criminals.

Reception

Reception to the revival was largely positive. In 1987, ''

Amazing Heroes ''Amazing Heroes'' was a magazine about the comic book medium published by American company Fantagraphics Books from 1981 to 1992. Unlike its companion title, '' The Comics Journal'', ''Amazing Heroes'' was a hobbyist magazine rather than an anal ...

'' reviewer R.A. Jones listed it as one of the 10 best titles of the previous year, calling it "a captivating action-adventure strip". Don Thompson meanwhile lauded the fast pacing, while Roger Zelazny was also positive. Martin A. Stever reviewed the title in ''

Space Gamer/Fantasy Gamer ''The Space Gamer'' was a magazine dedicated to the subject of science fiction and fantasy board games and tabletop role-playing games. It quickly grew in importance and was an important and influential magazine in its subject matter from the la ...

'' No. 83. Stever commented that "the key to this book's success has been the balance Dixon has stuck between adventure, humor, mystery, and romance. This, along with break-neck pacing and plenty of action in every issue have made ''Airboy'' a monthly even I look forward to". The 1987 ''Valkyrie'' mini-series received a positive review Darwin McPherson in ''Amazing Heroes'', describing it as "a fun read" even if he felt characterisation was light. However in the same magazine Gary D. Robinson was more reserved about ''Airboy'' #50, questioning the need to make the hero so flawed.

Other publishers

McFarlane Productions

Eclipse's intellectual property rights were later acquired by

Todd McFarlane Todd McFarlane (; born March 16, 1961) is a Canadian comic-book creator, best known for his work as an artist on ''The Amazing Spider-Man'' and as the creator, writer, and artist on the superhero horror-fantasy series '' Spawn,'' as well as bein ...

for a total of $25,000. The purchase was widely rumoured to be entirely motivated by the then-common belief it included the rights to another Eclipse title, ''

Miracleman } ''Miracleman'' is a superhero comic book series, centred on the character of the same name. Originally created by Mick Anglo and published by L. Miller & Son, Ltd. as ''Marvelman'' between 1954 and 1963, the character was revived in 1982 ...

'' At the time it was also widely believed it included the rights to ''Airboy'' too, and in 1998 McFarlane produced a one-shot called ''Total Eclipse'' featuring radically redesigned versions of the characters in his art style. Only the Heap would go on to any further appearances in McFarlane's work, making occasional guest appearances in ''

Spawn Spawn or spawning may refer to: * Spawning, the eggs and sperm of aquatic animals Arts, entertainment and media * Spawn (character), a fictional character in the comic series of the same name and in the associated franchise ** ''Spawn: Armageddon' ...

''.

Moonstone Books

However, it was later learned that the

trademark A trademark (also written trade mark or trade-mark) is a form of intellectual property that consists of a word, phrase, symbol, design, or a combination that identifies a Good (economics and accounting), product or Service (economics), service f ...

for Airboy had expired when Eclipse folded, and that despite Mullaney and Yronwode indicating otherwise in interviews to prevent rivals from using the character, the remainder of the ''Air Fighters'' canon remained in the public domain. As a result in 2007

Moonstone Books Moonstone Books is an American comic book, graphic novel, and prose fiction publisher based in Chicago focused on pulp fiction comic books and prose anthologies as well as horror and western tales. The company began publishing creator-owned com ...

announced plans to revive the World War II version of the character in new stories written by Chuck Dixon. However, the revival did not see print until March 2009, when Moonstone released the one-shot ''Airboy – 1942: Best of Enemies'', followed by two issues of

anthology In book publishing, an anthology is a collection of literary works chosen by the compiler; it may be a collection of plays, poems, short stories, songs, or related fiction/non-fiction excerpts by different authors. There are also thematic and g ...

''Airfighters'' in 2010, with a variety of creators including Dixon and

Tom DeFalco Tom DeFalco (born June 26, 1950) is an American comic book writer and editor well known for his association with Marvel Comics, with long runs on ''Amazing Spider-Man'', ''Thor (comic book), Thor'', ''Fantastic Four (comic book), Fantastic Four'' ...

, and the one-shots ''Airboy Presents: Air Vixens'' and ''Airboy/G8'', a crossover with fellow vintage comics aviator G-8 The Moonstone material, which featured black-and-white interior art, was later collected in the trade paperback ''Airboy and the Airfighters – Dangerous Liaisons'', which also included the previously-unprinted 30-page story "Insurrection", originally planned as one-shot ''Airfighters: L'Hospital St. Blaise''.

Antarctic Press

The character next resurfaced at

Antarctic Press Antarctic Press is a San Antonio-based comic book publishing company which publishes " Amerimanga" style comic books. The company also produces "how-to" and "you can" comics, instructing on areas of comic book creation and craft. Beginning in ...

in 2012, again featuring the Golden Age version of the character. The five-issue mini-series ''Airboy: Deadeye'' was co-written by Dixon with Gianluca Piredda, with art from Antarctic founder

Ben Dunn Ben Dunn (born April 17, 1964) Miller, John Jackson"Comics Industry Birthdays" ''Comics Buyer's Guide'', June 10, 2005. Accessed February 1, 2011.WebCitation archive/ref> is an American comic book artist and publisher. Biography Dunn was born i ...

Image Comics

Image Comics Image Comics is an independent American American comic book, comic book publisher and is the third largest direct market comic book and graphic novel publisher in the industry by market share. Its best-known publications include ''Spawn (comics) ...

began publishing a new Airboy comic in 2014, written by James Robinson and illustrated by Greg Hinkle. The

metafiction Metafiction is a form of fiction that emphasizes its own narrative structure in a way that inherently reminds the audience that they are reading or viewing a fictional work. Metafiction is self-conscious about language, literary form, and story ...

al four-issue series begins with fictionalised versions of Robinson and Hinkle engaging in an orgy of drink, drugs and sex while trying to find the inspiration to write a new ''Airboy'' series, only for the "real" Airboy to enter their world, much to the clean-cut character's horror. The series was attacked by

GLAAD GLAAD () is an American non-governmental media monitoring organization. Originally founded as a protest against defamatory coverage of gay and lesbian demographics and their portrayals in the media and entertainment industries, it has since ...

and others for its

transphobia Transphobia consists of negative attitudes, feelings, or actions towards transgender or transsexual people, or transness in general. Transphobia can include fear, aversion, hatred, violence or anger towards people who do not conform to socia ...

IDW Publishing

While the Hillman intellectual property is in the public domain under the conditions of his Eclipse contract Dixon and the other creators on the 1980s version of the title retained copyright to their work, and as such Dixon and Truman were able to coordinate a series of reprints for

IDW Publishing IDW Publishing is an American publisher of comic books, graphic novels, art books, and comic strip collections. It was founded in 1999 as the publishing division of Idea and Design Works, LLC (IDW) and is recognized as the fifth-largest comic ...

. ''Airboy Archives'' ran through five volumes, reprinting all of the Eclipse material bar the main story of ''Total Eclipse'' (which featured numerous characters whose copyright was held by others – most notably Miracleman, who had recently been acquired by

Marvel Comics Marvel Comics is a New York City–based comic book publishing, publisher, a property of the Walt Disney Company since December 31, 2009, and a subsidiary of Disney Publishing Worldwide since March 2023. Marvel was founded in 1939 by Martin G ...

and the special ''Target: Airboy'' (which had featured Clint from Don Chin's '' Adolescent Radioactive Black Belt Hamsters''). Dixon edited the collection, and arranged the various mini-series and specials in their intended reading order.

It's Alive

Dixon then collaborated with Drew Ford of It's Alive Press to raised funds via

crowdfunding Crowdfunding is the practice of funding a project or venture by raising money from a large number of people, typically via the internet. Crowdfunding is a form of crowdsourcing and Alternative Finance, alternative finance, to fund projects "withou ...

website

Indiegogo Indiegogo is an American crowdfunding website founded in 2008 by Danae Ringelmann, Slava Rubin, and Eric Schell. Its headquarters are in San Francisco, California. The site is one of the first sites to offer crowd funding. Indiegogo allows peo ...

to continue the story from where ''Airboy'' #50 left off. After reaching its first goal ''Airboy'' #51, introducing appeared in October 2019, featuring art by Brent McKee and variant covers by Paul Gulacy, Jim Steranko,

Graham Nolan Graham Nolan (born March 12, 1962) is an American comic book artist, best known for work for DC Comics on Batman-related titles in the 1990s and his work on ''The Phantom'' Sunday strip. He frequently collaborates with writer Chuck Dixon. Biograp ...

Don Perlin Donald David Perlin (; August 27, 1929 – May 14, 2024) was an American comic book artist, writer, and editor. He is best known for Marvel Comics' ''Werewolf by Night'', ''Moon Knight'' (a character he co-created), '' The Defenders'', and ''Ghos ...

Matt Kindt Matt Kindt (born 1973) is an American comic book writer, cartoonist, and graphic designer. His early creator-owned works were spy fiction, and their success led to mainstream work for hire projects in superhero fiction and other genres. His work h ...

, Andrew MacLean,

Dalibor Talajić Dalibor Talajić is a Croats, Croatian comics artist, comic book artist. He is most famous for his work for the Marvel Comics, Marvel Comics publishing house. He gained international acclaim and commercial success working on the ''Deadpool Kills ...

and Emma Kubert.''Airboy'' #52 was published in August 2022, drawn by Stipe Kalajzic. Ford's sudden death in October 2022 led to the shutdown of It's Alive Press.

Collected editions

Legacy

Valkyrie was ranked 45th in ''

Comics Buyer's Guide ''Comics Buyer's Guide'' (''CBG''; ), established in 1971, was the longest-running English-language periodical reporting on the American comic book industry. It awarded its annual Comics Buyer's Guide Fan Awards from 1983 to circa 2010. The publ ...

's'' "100 Sexiest Women in Comics" list.

Homages

*The first volume in the ''

Wild Cards ''Wild Cards'' is a series of science fiction superhero shared universe anthologies, mosaic novels, and solo novels. They are written by a collection of more than forty authors (referred to as the "Wild Cards Trust") and are edited by George R. ...

'' novel series edited by

George R.R. Martin George Raymond Richard Martin (born George Raymond Martin; September 20, 1948) also known by the initials G.R.R.M. is an American author, television writer, and television producer. He is best known as the author of the unfinished series of ep ...

includes a character called Jetboy, an Airboy analogue created by

Howard Waldrop Howard Waldrop (September 15, 1946 – January 14, 2024) was an American science fiction author who worked primarily in short fiction. He received the World Fantasy Award for Life Achievement in 2021. Early life Born in Houston, Mississippi, ...

who wanted to write an Airboy story. *The lead character of publisher

America's Best Comics America's Best Comics (ABC) was a comic book publishing brand. It was set up by Alan Moore in 1999 as an imprint of WildStorm, an idea proposed to Moore by WildStorm founder Jim Lee when it was still under Image Comics. History ''America's ...

' graphic novel '' Top 10: The Forty-Niners'' is Jetlad, whom historian

Jess Nevins Jess Nevins (born 1966) is an American author and research librarian best known for annotated guides and encyclopedias covering Victoriana, comic books, genre fiction and pulp fiction.Charles Biro Charles Biro (; May 12, 1911 – March 4, 1972) was an American comic book creator and cartoonist. He created the comic book characters Airboy and Steel Sterling, and worked on ''Daredevil (Golden Age), Daredevil Comics'' and ''Crime Does Not Pa ...

's teenaged aviator Airboy".

References

External links

Grand Comics Database
''Airboy Archives'' at Comic Book Plus
{{Eclipse Comics 1942 comics debuts 1986 comics debuts 1989 comics endings 2015 comics debuts 2015 comics endings 2019 comics debuts American comics characters Antarctic Press titles Aviation comics Child superheroes Comic book limited series Comics set during World War II Comics publications Eclipse Comics characters Eclipse Comics titles Fictional aviators Golden Age adventure heroes Image Comics characters Image Comics titles Metafictional comics Public domain comics